Marianne (DVD)

Following triumphs in the silent The Patsy, The Cardboard Lover and Show People, Marion Davies took her first headlong leap into talkies with the crazy-quilt musical- comedy-romance Marianne, inspired by and from the scriptwriter of (believe it or not) King Vidor's The Big Parade. Sporting a bawdy fractured-English accent, she plays an earthy French peasant who runs an inn and cares for war orphans in a village where a troop of American soldiers is demobilizing from World War I action. Despite musical maneuvers by eager doughboys (including Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards and Benny Rubin), she finally falls for persistent Pvt. Stagg (Lawrence Gray), whom she rescues from the brig after he pinches the pet pig she roasted for a general's dinner. Difficulties arise when her MIA soldier fiance returns. But not before eight catchy tunes (such as "Just You, Just Me" and "When I See My Sugar") delight and dandy Davies impersonates of Maurice Chevalier, Sarah Bernhardt and a mustached officer. You'll parlez-vous Ooh La-La La-La for Marion's Marianne!